SOTA c22s02
Text The charcoal stallion was still glaring moodily at Luna as they made their way through Subterra, but Luna was still smiling, her mood incredibly lighter, her body feeling rejuvenated from both the close contact with Twilight Sparkle and the time spent in the Pool of Tears. The heat, the comfort, and the energies that had permeated her body left her feeling wonderful... and more than that, her mane and tail were currently still glowing unnaturally bright. A side-effect that would wear off soon enough, but for now she kept giggling now and then at how she probably looked like a living nightlight. “Nightlight. That's going to be my new nickname for you.” Scrivener muttered, looking ahead, and Luna only smiled agreeably at him, as the stallion added dryly: “And I can't help but notice that all that time in the Pool of Tears has made you seem a little... high. Like pot-high, not acid-high.” “Oh, as if thou knows anything about magic drug smoke.” Luna scoffed, and then she paused and looked curiously over at Scrivener. “Hast thou ever done drugs?” “Uh. Of course, sure, yeah.” Scrivener said awkwardly, and when Luna tilted her head towards him with an amused smile, Scrivener cleared his throat and looked lamely ahead. “Once in my... drinking days, I decided to try and go out, buy... you know, something. Drinking... was just making me angrier and sadder. I thought maybe something stronger...” Luna's smile toned down a little, but a faint one spread over Scrivener's own face as he continued softly: “You know, generic self-destruction stuff. Anyway, I go out, find a guy... but as I'm angry, drunk, and twitchy, I actually end up scaring him off. And if that wasn't bad enough I ended up taking a left instead of a right heading back to my apartment, and got lost in my own neighborhood. Took me until morning to get back to my apartment, and I think the... stumbling in drunk in the middle of the night, knocking stuff over, all that... probably what made the landlord evict me.” “Thou great and stupid idiot. Thou art a mix of comic and tragic, but... more comic, I think, since thou always seems to laugh at thine own tragedies.” Luna murmured, then she leaned over and nuzzled against the side of his neck gently, making him smile before they both turned and strode out through a large set of double doors onto one of the connecting bridges leading to the top of Selene's pyramid. Somehow, neither pony was surprised to see Celestia was already waiting for them, gazing at them softly. Selene was nearby, but her attention seemed focused elsewhere as the water of the reflecting pool rippled beneath her quietly, gazing up at the rocky sky of Subterra in the distance. The real surprise was that Vallation was on the other side of the pyramid with Cowlick, the engineer apparently lecturing him on something as the enormous mechanical stallion studied a book laying on the ground in front of him a frown. Luna and Scrivener both cocked their heads curiously, leaning up a bit at this before Celestia sighed and asked with the smallest of hidden smiles: “Please tell me you didn't join Twilight in the Pool of Tears, Luna.” “Oh shut up, Celestia, neither of us are about to become evil bloodthirsty zombie-vampires.” Luna said grouchily, and then she blinked as Ratatoskr popped up on top of Celestia's head, the squirrel sitting complacently on the flowing rainbow locks as Luna mouthed wordlessly for a moment, then cleared her throat awkwardly. “Uh... big sister... art thou aware...” “Yes, I know. It's fine.” Celestia smiled, and Luna looked almost dumbfounded by this response before Celestia glanced over her shoulder, gesturing towards Cowlick and Vallation. “I've spoken at length with Kilby Kwolek, and she seems... incredibly determined to teach Vallation and help him with his recovery. She also suggested we should consider calling him by a different name... it would be a small thing, but it would still help disassociate him from his past as a mechanical construct serving the whims of Thesis.” “I take it she didn't phrase things quite as eloquently as that though, right?” Scrivener asked mildly, and Celestia only smiled slightly before the stallion asked curiously: “What are they doing?” “Why don't you two come over here and see for yourselves?” Cowlick asked waspishly, and Scrivener cleared his throat as Luna grinned widely before striding past Selene, giving the Nephilim only a glance as she passed: since Selene didn't react, the Overseer was clearly off in her own little world, doing... whatever Nephilim did. Scrivener and Luna joined Cowlick with Celestia letting herself lag a little behind, and Vallation looked up nervously before the engineer shook her head firmly. “Now you stop that, Shiny. These guys may have beaten the crap out of you, but in a way they saved your ass, don't you forget that.” Vallation mumbled under his breath, and then he winced when Cowlick reached up and swatted him, the Clockwork Pony leaning awkwardly backwards and Scrivener wondering absently if maybe things with Luna weren't so bad after all. “Don't you start your damn muttering again, especially when it's still all gibberish. Anyway, his memories are damaged, but his emotions are all there, and he seems to know a few bits and pieces of his past. He responds to his name, and he has a lot of basic knowledge... you know, etiquette, don't take a dump where you eat, stuff like that.” Scrivener slapped his forehead and Celestia looked mildly at the engineer, but Luna only cocked her head curiously, asking after a moment: “Can he even poop?” “You know, funny thing. That's the best question anyone's asked so far about this poor bastard.” Cowlick muttered, then she glared over at Celestia. “Most ponies just keep asking, 'gee, Cowlick, you sure you can control him? Gee, Cowlick, isn't he a big evil monster?' Well, hate to break it to you, ninety percent of Subterra is big evil monsters.” “I already apologized, Cowlick, and I am sorry for making assumptions. I'm just trying to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.” Celestia stopped, then she softened as Ratatoskr chittered on her head, looking across at the Clockwork Pony. “Besides, I believe you, now that I've had time to see for myself. His behavior is completely different. He reminds me of victims of other forms of mind control that I've seen in the past.” “And fixed mostly by setting the victims aflame and burning them to a fine crisp.” Luna muttered, and Celestia gave her younger sibling a moody look before the sapphire mare grumbled. “Although aye, I suppose that I have killed my own fair share of unhappy pawns, and the past is past and now is now. Does he know his name is Shining Armor?” The metallic pony looked up awkwardly, then studied them nervously before he shifted uneasily, then suddenly blurted: “One negative clothing here!” “His wiring's all screwed up.” Cowlick said almost affectionately, reaching over and hammering a bit on the Clockwork Pony's head, making him wince and then look almost pleadingly at Cowlick. “It might sound funny, but I think it's a step forwards, though. First he couldn't talk at all, then it was just gibberish, and now he's actually managing words and they don't even sound that slurred. Sure, he ain't saying the right words, but I'm sure that'll clear up too at this rate. Besides, we got help.” She smiled, gesturing at the large book in front of the stallion: it was an enormous illustrated dictionary that relied more on the brightly-colored images than the short, concise definitions, as Cowlick said softly: “This is from Ross' collection. He kindly let us borrow it... you liked my husband Ross, didn't you, Shiny? And Ross sure thought you were a great guy, and he ain't never been wrong about that before. No matter how creepy the stallion seemed.” Cowlick slowly looked pointedly over at Scrivener, and the charcoal earth pony sighed a little. As Luna strode quickly forwards to begin poking curiously through the picture book, Scrivener asked quietly: “So we'll have to wait to talk to Vallation about Thesis then, huh?” “He ain't Vallation, and I ain't gonna repeat myself on that subject.” Cowlick said firmly, poking Scrivener in the chest several times, and the stallion winced backwards a bit before the engineer added quietly: “And yeah. Celestia and your creepy pal Selene there said his mind is being shielded, but I don't think that's it. He's got all those computer parts lodged in his brain, helping him think, doing Horses of Heaven know what to him. I think that's why no one can get a look inside his head.” Celestia nodded slowly as Scrivener looked down meditatively, and then Luna giggled a little as she pointed at the book and said positively. “A butte.” The Clockwork Pony looked blankly down at the image of a cliff, and then Scrivener sighed tiredly even as the sapphire mare looked up with a grin. “One day, when we have the time and there are no enemies hounding us, I shall find a mighty mountain that stands alone amidst the landscape, and I shall name it Celestia's Butte in honor of thee, my big sister.” “Thank you, Luna, now can we please focus on the task at hoof?” Celestia asked tiredly, and Luna laughed as Scrivener shook his head and Cowlick snorted in amusement, grinning despite herself. “With all respect, Celestia, I think all that's gotta be said has been said. You can't rush this, but you can at least trust me to do things right as I can.” Cowlick said after a moment, looking over at the ivory winged unicorn with a smile, and the mare hesitated for a moment before Cowlick turned her gaze ahead to the Clockwork Pony, saying quietly: “'Cause I know when a pony's trying, and when a pony's not. And I trust that Shiny's trying hard, ain't you?” “Shine... Shining Armor.” the Clockwork Pony said slowly and carefully, and Cowlick gave a warm, wide smile before the mechanical stallion looked uneasily back and forth at Luna and Scrivener. “Argument?” “Nay, not any more. We have... we are...” Luna paused, then she smiled as her horn glowed, paging rapidly through the dictionary before settling on a page with an illustration of several ponies smiling together, reaching down and pressing a hoof to this firmly. “Friends.” The mechanical unicorn looked down with a frown... and then he nodded slowly before turning his eyes upwards with a faint smile. Luna grunted, then she stepped back and studied the Clockwork Pony for a few moments before looking thoughtfully up at her own glowing mane, which was still pulsing with faint light. “Cowlick, a thought occurs. I find myself in a cheery mood despite all that is going on in the world, and I know it has much to do with the fact that I feel very energetic at the moment, that I have much strength and vitality to spare after feeling... tired and drained for so long. Does thou think that powering up Shining Armor could do the same for him?” “Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were the one who wanted me to pull out all his batteries?” Cowlick remarked, and Luna gave the mare a flat look before the engineer grinned slightly and nodded thoughtfully after a moment, turning her eyes to Celestia, who shifted uneasily on the spot as she studied the Clockwork Pony. “What do you think? And note this ain't me asking your permission or anything, I just want your opinion. Subterra is Luna's joint, after all.” Celestia sighed as Luna visibly puffed up, before Selene's voice surprised them as the Nephilim slipped in gently: “I believe that the creature can be trusted. To me, he seems like a construct that has been granted emotions... but his emotions are closer to that of ponies than my own are. He is confused, and afraid, that is plain to see... but he is not hostile, or angry. He is only scared. And a gesture of goodwill can often go far with those who are afraid.” The two siblings exchanged a look as Selene calmly approached, and the Clockwork Pony shivered at the sight of her before nervously taking a step backwards as the Nephilim stepped past Celestia. He looked hurriedly away from the galactic, infinite gaze of the strange, glowing ivory creature, and then he took another step back with Selene took a slow step forwards. Selene seemed to smile strangely, almost as if enjoying the fear of the Clockwork Pony as she carefully, purposefully stepped towards the Clockwork Pony again, who began to shake his head vehemently as he stepped backwards, his horn flickering with the faintest, weakest aura as he tried to summon up any strength at all, but all he succeeded in doing was making himself reel and fall heavily back on his haunches. But as Selene began to lean forwards, Cowlick jumped between the two with a glare at the Nephilim, snapping: “Luna, call off your goddamn dog!” Luna looked sharply at the ivory entity, and Selene laughed quietly, bowing her head courteously as she said softly: “I was just doing the construct a favor, that is all. I was showing the world that he knows fear... and more importantly, he understands who he should fear.” “And does thou understand whom thou should fear, Selene? Or hast thou forgotten who thou serves?” Luna asked quietly, her eyes flashing, and Scrivener shifted uneasily as he felt the burst of anger from Luna... but also the discomfort. Selene was a dangerous force, after all, and everypony here was aware that if the Nephilim ever slipped her leash, ever decided to turn against them on a whim... “Oh, I would never do that, Father. I would never hurt you or Mother.” Selene said with a kind smile, looking up softly with her galactic eyes, and Scrivener shivered as he managed to meet that gaze for only a moment: for a moment, he stared into the cosmos within Selene, the endless, sparkling darkness... that was so cold, where all the beacons of stars were nothing but lies, where the light existed only so it could give cruel, false hope in the all-engulfing hollow... “But that does not mean I would hesitate to hurt everyone else, if it became necessary. I was only ensuring that it would not be necessary, and that he was aware of his proper place in this world.” Selene smiled, then bowed her head slowly to them before turning calmly away and returning to her reflecting pool without a word or a look back at them... or the shivering Clockwork Pony that Cowlick was sitting protectively beside, as Luna grimaced and wondered moodily if they were shortly going to end up with yet another conflict on their hooves. Top ↑